Alatas does not expect much in East Timor talks<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said
\nyesterday that a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Jaime
\nGama at the United Nations to discuss the East Timor conflict
\nthis weekend would be simply to review the situation.<\/p>\n
\"Frankly speaking, I don't have high expectations of making
\nany significant progress,\" Alatas said after meeting with
\nPresident Soeharto at the Merdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
\"The purpose of the meeting is to overview ... how far we have
\ncome in our dialogs under the auspices of Secretary General
\nBoutros Boutros-Ghali, and what we need to convey to the new
\nsecretary general,\" said Alatas, who flew out of Jakarta last
\nnight for Paris, before heading for New York.<\/p>\n
The meeting, scheduled for this Saturday, will be the ninth
\nbetween the foreign ministers of the two countries on the
\nsovereignty of East Timor.<\/p>\n
The meetings were initiated by secretary general Javier Perez
\nde Cuellar and were continued during Boutros-Ghali's five-year
\nterm, which ends this month. The UN General Assembly is expected
\nto endorse today Kofi Annan of Ghana as the new secretary
\ngeneral, to start on Jan. 1, 1997.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he expected the dialogs to continue under Annan,
\nAlatas said: \"This is something that we have to see. It is
\nexpected that the new secretary general will continue what has
\nbeen done by Boutros-Ghali, just like Boutros-Ghali continued the
\nwork of his predecessor.\"<\/p>\n
Responding to a question about his CNN debate last week on the
\nEast Timor conflict with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio and
\nother speakers, Alatas said the program's set up disadvantaged
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
As well as the two men, the program featured the two East
\nTimorese Nobel laureates Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and
\nJose Ramos Horta, Indonesia's ambassador to the UN Nugroho
\nWisnumurti and senior East Timor politician Lopez da Cruz.<\/p>\n
Alatas said his appearance was pre-recorded, making it
\ndifficult for him to argue against points raised by the
\nPortuguese president.<\/p>\n
\"Every time the Portuguese President spoke, he was clapped by
\nhis supporters. In that kind of set up, it was difficult for us
\nto have the opportunity to debate. The questions asked also
\ncarried certain connotations.<\/p>\n
\"Jonathan Mann (the CNN anchor) tried to present a balanced
\npicture, but he failed,\" the minister said.<\/p>\n
Alatas commended the election of Annan by the UN Security
\nCouncil as the new secretary general.<\/p>\n
He said Annan had vast experience and knowledge about the in-
\nand-outs of UN operations, and was obviously aware of the
\nproblems facing the world body today.<\/p>\n
\"He is very qualified. I know him personally,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia hoped that just like Boutros-Ghali, Annan would be
\nsensitive and possess in-depth knowledge about the problems
\nfacing developing countries and the Non-Aligned Movement, Alatas
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said that given the United States fully supported Annan's
\nelection, one of the first things it should do is pay its debts
\nto the UN.<\/p>\n
\"This is a pressing problem which hopefully will be resolved
\nwith the election of the new secretary general,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Alatas said his trip to Paris was to attend a meeting of
\nforeign ministers representing the Non-Aligned Movement and the
\nGroup of 77 developing countries with the French minister
\nrepresenting the Group of Seven industrialized countries.<\/p>\n
Topics to be discussed include the debt problems of poor
\ncountries, the latest developments in the Middle East and Bosnia
\nHerzegovina, terrorism, the illicit drug trade and efforts to
\nstop the production and use of land mines. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/alatas-does-not-expect-much-in-east-timor-talks-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}